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Looking back at your life, do you ever pin point the moments that were key to your growing person?

At this time of year, most people tend to look upon the year previous and start to re-evaluate for the new year ahead. Do you think about it positively, or negatively? Or do you have a realistic approach in thinking; that life is not perfect.

We can only appreciate the good, learn from the bad and enjoy the ride along the way. Without it all, we wouldn’t be who we are today.

So let’s take it back…

I looked through my own memories of 2017, and there were plenty of things that sprung to mind.

I ran two marathons.

One of those marathons was a sub-4 (and a PB!) which is what I had aimed for all year.

I was on the front cover of Women’s Running Magazine back in August.

I had finally made the big move to London, something I had wanted since 2012.

Nominated as one of the winners in the Northern Blog awards with #WeBlogNorth for best Health & Fitness influencer.

I had made many new friends, some that have helped me throughout the year, and I’ll be forever grateful.

I ran #30KMFor30Years for my parents, whose little old town pub turned the big 30 years old back in November. The event brought many family and friends together and I was so happy of those that helped make this happen.

I was the Race Ambassador for Women’s Running Race Series in Manchester and even got to host their warm up, which also took me to run the Women’s Running Race Series in London.

I made it into the London Marathon (after three years of trying!) for Macmillan Cancer, which I shall run with all my might in the year 2018.

I made a huge career change. I now do the job that I love, and even though I am super busy all the time, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

So without this sounding like a ‘I did this, I did that’ post, what I’m really trying to say is, that my success stories also came with challenges and negatives along the way. It wasn’t easy, I tell you now.

My first marathon of the year, in Paris, was a complete disaster. Afterwards, I almost thought I would never run again. My body couldn’t hack it all and I ended up with an injury. I was so disappointed in my time and efforts that I got myself into a huge slump over it all. It taught me a lot of my body and training, it was something I most definitely needed to focus on in the future.

I had to hand my notice in at my last job because I wasn’t being treated fairly. The last few months were hard; there were a ton of sh*t going on that made me despise going in, and the hours were long. I decided to leave the toxic environment and finally work towards making a career out of what I love. After all, if you’re unhappy in the thing you do on a day-to-day basis, things need to change, rapidly.

Leaving work meant I was completely broke for a short while. All I did was run and attend my course, which meant life was a little boring. Then, once I was qualified, there were to be even bigger challenges in store. I didn’t know how I’d even make it in my new-found career and it was a tough start. Making the move to London didn’t help the matter really, but in my head, I had to wipe the slate clean and start on over. It was a difficult time filled with many tears, loss of hope and struggling through just to get by, however it was worth it all in the end.

I made many new friends along the way, but I had also realised that not everyone will be true to their word. I’ve had many people come into my life to only take what they could from me, which left me in doubt of who I could trust. I had my heart broken without even knowing the reasons why, which only made me blame myself in certain situations. Human beings can be pretty sh*tty to one another, and I’m sure we’re all not perfect on this case… As it’s all a matter of ‘survival in one’s own emotions’. People can choose whether or not to stay in your life unfortunately, but then again, you can choose who to have in your life too.

However, I am still here, standing tall and proud of who I am and what I’ve got. When I’ve fallen, I got back up… brushed myself off, made the changes, and welcomed the positives. I have to tell myself every single day why I AM worth it. Life is about lessons, and some of them are not that easy, but the toughest lessons can only bring the best of results.

In conclusion, take a look at yourself here. Think of the positives that you have, or make the positive changes and spread ALL of that positivity around you. It starts with one person… BE that person. It can be so easy to look at the bad times and wonder ‘why?’ or ‘what if?’ when you should only embrace these moments, good and bad, to bring you to an even better place.

Life is for living, so take each day for what it is, and make improvements constantly. Sh*t will come down on you sometimes, but hey, that’s life. Let yourself have a cry, make the noise, but then just get on up and tell the world who the hell you are.

YOU have a part in this big old story, so make it be known to yourself and those around you. Live it, breathe it, BELIEVE in it. I’m counting on you.

A thank you to the #WeBlogNorth crew for believing in me – Visit their website for great meet ups and workshops for bloggers, or you can check out the Northern Blog Awards website here.

A special thanks to Women’s Running Magazine for everything that they have done for me; I had lots of fun on our shoot and letting me race with so many other amazing women was one of the highlights of my year.

A VERY big thank you to my parents. Without you both, I am unsure of where I would be today. You have helped me greatly within my journey; brought me up to be the strong woman that you see today and you also let me grow into the person that I was always meant to be. As well as giving me the best baby sister anyone could ask for.